Black Heart, Black Feathers
by horsechick27
Summary: Abandoned by Jane and Eric, Darcy must pick up the pieces that they left behind. When an opportunity for her to start fresh comes along, she takes it. Three years later she finds Loki in the woods and now her life is intertwined with his. Starts at the end of Thor and will slowly go into the Avengers.


"Damn it", Darcy Lewis hissed when her finger touched the smoldering hot surface of the pan full of boiling water and noodles.

The water was beginning to boil over as she had forgotten to turn down the stove when the time came for the noodles to tender. Darcy quickly turned down the stove and carefully pulled the pan up from the stove and over the sink. She dumped its contents into a bowl with holes on the side that would filter the water out and leave the noodles behind. Steam rose up from the sink like from a crater and blew into Darcy's face. Darcy wrinkled her nose in displeasure at the heat and furiously fanned the steam away from her delicate face. Her dark purple glasses were slightly foggy and blurred her vision so she cleaned the glass frames on a dish rag.

"Thank god nothing burned" Darcy muttered to herself as she ripped open the package that contained the orange dust that would be cheese.

Darcy was left alone after Jane Foster and Eric Selvig decided to continue to search for Thor after he left earth to supposedly save his kingdom from his brother. Jane offered Darcy a chance to go with them but Darcy knew that this was half-heartedly. The young woman could see that Jane was hell bent on searching for the dashing god and the last thing that she needed was her Political Science major sidekick getting in the way. At first Darcy liked being alone in the house. There was no one to judge her for mistakes, shoot her a disapproving glance when she said one of her vulgar sayings, or berate her on how to live her life.

That happiness was short lived because it did not take long for Darcy to realize how much Jane and Eric worked to keep the house and lab running. Jane and Eric owed debts for the lab equipment that led to taking out a second mortgage on the house to pay for Jane's research. It did not take long for the bank to track down Darcy and get on to her case about how it was her responsibility to keep up with her friend's payments.

The young woman tuned out the annoying drone of the bankers until she finally said that she would do her best to keep paying the bills. Little did she know that Darcy should have kept her head in the conversation and think about this promise.

Bills were being aggressively sent to the house every week, phone calls were being made demanding payment as soon as possible. Darcy took a couple of jobs waitressing and bar tending at a diner in town. The debts were being settled slowly but in a leisure system that drained Darcy of her money for personal items. Cable and everyday running water were luxuries that she could not afford and Easy Mac was her new best friend. This was when Darcy knew that she had to grow up.

Now Darcy was adding milk and butter to the cheese dust in the pan and began to stir until it was mixed into a creamy substance. Despite the stove being turned down her face was boiling hot. The day had been long; waiting tables until she could not feel her feet as they constantly hit the floor with each step, and serving drinks to unruly biker dudes who apparently do not know how to leave a good tip. By the time Darcy got home it was well past midnight.

The cheese was finally ready to be mixed with the noodles. Darcy lifted the bowl that sat patiently in the sink and carefully scooped the noodles out and plopped them into the pot full of cheese and mixed everything together. Darcy scooped herself a small bowl full of the cheesy pasta and sat the bar with her meal and a glass of water.

A small pile of bills sat on the end of the counter and laughed at Darcy in the face. The young woman narrowed her blue eyes and flicked them off the counter.

"Rotten sons of bitches, all they want is money", Darcy muttered in anger.

She angrily forked some pasta and shoved it in her mouth and chewed like she wanted to destroy the noodles.

'Was this how my life was going to be? Picking up the pieces that Jane and Eric had left beind?' Darcy thought to herself.

Darcy knew that she could not keep on doing this. Sooner or later all of her money was going to be gone and she would be in an endless battle over debt with no way to take care of herself.

"Maybe if I got another job it would help. I heard that Emily needs help cleaning her house" Darcy said to herself.

It dawned on her that she would never get out of this river of work and endless debt. Darcy thought about the character Fantine from Les Miserables, one of her favorite musicals. Fantine was constantly in debt and the only way to make ends meet was by selling her body to the night. Darcy swore to herself up and down that no matter how bad things got, she would never stoop that low. At least Darcy didn't have a child to take care of, like Fantine had to.

Children were never Darcy's favorite thing in the world. Sure, she babysat throughout middle school and high school but she could never see herself as a motherly person. Darcy would never make the mistake that her mother made by getting pregnant with her in her senior year of high school.

Darcy finished off her bowl of macaroni and cheese and put the rest in a tupperware bowl to keep in the refrigerator for tomorrow. The blue eyed woman retreated to her upstairs bathroom where she cleansed her body after a long day. Once she was out of the shower and dried, Darcy dressed in a pair of red plaid pajama pants and a black tank top. She didn't care that her hair was still damp from the shower as she climbed into her medium sized bed. Darcy was fortunate that her room allowed access to a skylight where she could be right under the stars as she slept and always feel at peace.

"If there is a god up there, please hear me and help me get out of this hell" Darcy whispered before she drifted off to sleep. Not knowing that across town, an event was taking place that was going to set off a chain reaction of events that will change her life forever.


End file.
